


A hint of light in the dark; only enough to keep from giving up.

by proboning



Series: I am what you need when you can't find it somewhere else. [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Pre-Slash, Stiles is still young, This is an AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-04
Updated: 2012-07-04
Packaged: 2017-11-09 04:29:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/451274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/proboning/pseuds/proboning
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Excerpt: "She hears a low growl and cracks a smile, jogging backwards and back to the doorway. “Good morning, sleepy head!” She chirps, and then cooing, “Don’t you two just look adorable.” "</p>
            </blockquote>





	A hint of light in the dark; only enough to keep from giving up.

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'd, as per usual.  
> Other notes at the end, as per usual.

*****

Sheets are nice. _Beds_ are nice. They’re especially pleasant when one hasn’t slept much in days. Like Derek. He’s home and he’s with his family and he’s in his own bed, and he’s exhausted.

He’s stripped down to his boxers, face planted into his pillow and floating on that cusp of asleep and awake, already feeling himself starting to drool on his pillow. Then a quiet scratching penetrates his sluggish consciousness, Derek tries to ignore it, but it keeps getting louder and more frequent. He groans pitifully, getting heavily up on his hands and dragging his way to the door.

Derek can smell Stiles through the wood, and swings open the door to make the kid go away. But when he the door comes back he doesn’t see Stiles; he looks down further to find the kid in wolf form, hunched over and staring up with scared big brown eyes, his ears lying flat.

At that look Derek melts, that’s actually normal, though. “Have a nightmare, kid?” Stiles dips his head, his nose almost hitting the floor. Derek sighs and bends down to pat Stiles’s head, and when the kid (pup, really) doesn’t flinch away, Derek scoops him up and drops him on his mattress.

Stiles wiggles up and stuffs his head under Derek’s pillow, tail flopping a few times in triumph and happiness. Derek watches as Stiles gets comfortable and rolls his eyes at the kid’s wriggling, he contemplates for a minute, but decides to strip and transform into his own wolf. He jumps onto the mattress and thumps his nose against Stiles’s side, trying to get him to move over, this is Derek’s side of the bed and he wants it. Stiles refuses to move, instead, he squirms further under the pillow. 

Derek huffs and decides that if Stiles doesn’t want to move, that’s not his problem; he sags and falls right on top of the pup. Stiles yelps, something akin to a groan coming muffled from the pillow. Derek lays his head next to where Stiles’s is under the pillow and lets his tail wag a couple of times. Wolves can’t really smile, you see, and Derek is too amused to not do anything. Stiles squirms once, but settles finally and doesn’t try to get free. Derek sighs, and lets himself be lulled to sleep by Stiles’s soft breathing and steady heartbeat.

*****

Laura opens the door to Stiles’s room, prepared for slight pouting and reluctance to get up, but she’s definitely not prepared for an empty bed. She peeks in to the bathroom, the closet, and even under the bed; but can’t find the kid anywhere.

She rushes downstairs and looks in the sitting room, but he’s not there either. She tells her mother as she passes the kitchen and after searching the downstairs they end up back on the second floor. Laura can’t catch his scent; it’s not strong in any particular direction, just a blanket like the rest of the house.

Laura throws Derek’s door open, gearing up to pull him out of bed to help, but stops short when she lands eyes on her brother’s sheets. Derek’s black wolf is sprawled on his back, front legs lazily up in the air, neck bent towards his side and his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Stiles is sprawled at an angle on Derek’s stomach with his head wrapped in the sheet that’s made its way onto Derek’s bottom legs.

Laura barely contains a squeak, poking out of the room and frantically waving to her mom. Her mother sidles up beside her, scanning the room and seeing the boys, quickly covering her mouth to prevent noise from coming out. They silently coo at each other and jump around awkwardly, like girls do when faced with something horribly adorable. Laura pulls out her phone and creeps into the room, silently making her way to the bed and taking a picture.

She hears a low growl and cracks a smile, jogging backwards and back to the doorway. “Good morning, sleepy head!” She chirps, and then cooing, “Don’t you two just look adorable.”

Stiles pokes his head up, the sheet only slipping half off, revealing one deep brown eye. Laura can’t keep back the smile that pushes through; her mother makes a weird, muffled, squealing noise beside her. She quickly recovers though and smiles sweetly. “Come on kiddo, go put your human on so we can get some breakfast.” Stiles stumbles his way back over Derek and hesitates at the edge of the bed, he stares forlornly at the carpeted floor; Derek’s bed is too high. Laura’s about to help him down but Derek snaps forward and takes the scruff of Stiles’s neck in his mouth to carefully lean over the bed to set Stiles on the carpet.

Laura looks over at her mom in time to see her eyes go soft, probably mirroring her own. Stiles trots passed them both, followed at a slower pace by her mom. Laura watches them for a second and looks back to find Derek human and glaring at the ceiling. She smirks and leans against the doorframe. “You’re going soft Derek.” She drawls. “You never turn for _anything_ , the picture of control.” She tacks on, her voice taking on a mocking edge.

Derek growls and turns his glare onto her. “Shut up, Laura.” She laughs at his sour expression, barely hearing the “Get out.” He sends her way.

She laughs some more, straightening up. “I’m going. I’m going.” She grabs the door handle, pulling it towards herself. “Hey, but just wait a few more years, yeah? Don’t want you getting arrested.” She bursts out laughing; closing the door just as the pillow Derek was throwing hits the wood.

*****

Later on in the day, Laura’s going for a jog, taking the usual path through the yard and into the woods. The long stretch of grass moves into scattered trees and as she passes one a few yards away, she sees something different; Laura doubles back and looks again. Lying on a blanket in the shade, she finds Derek on his back with Stiles sprawled on his own stomach across Derek’s chest, and their legs awkwardly entwined.

They both seem to be sleeping, but Laura doesn’t move closer, knowing that if she does they would both hear and wake. Instead she watches from afar for a few minutes, then slinks off when Derek reaches up to pet down Stiles’s back.

Laura quietly walks away, picking up speed when she’s far enough for them (Derek especially) not to hear her go. Stiles is too young to start feeling what Derek probably is, and Derek’s probably too emotionally stunted to realize either. Which is probably a good thing, for now.

So, yes, Laura leaves her brother and Stiles alone without a word, a strange thing for her. She trusts them both, and sometimes, some moments need to just be shared between mates. 

*****

**Author's Note:**

> Title Credit: _Thread_ by Now, Now.
> 
> My last part of this series wasn't very popular. It could be because in my long-ass absence from writing I started to suck at dialogue...  
> Whatever! What can you do?
> 
> Disclaimer: Nothing's changed. It's not mine, I don't really want it, and I still have no money; so please don't sue.


End file.
